Trying to understand the basics of travel soccer

[Anonymous]

I know a kid who only started playing club this fall season and he was 1st team all-district last spring for his high school team. It’s rare, but not unheard of.

[Anonymous]

My I10 son plays in OBSL/CMSSL and his coach described it as “travel-lite”
We’ve found it a to be a great middle ground between rec soccer with kids who aren’t committed to the team and over-the-top travel leagues.
We’ve gone as far as Annapolis and northern Baltimore, and the team is playing in two tournaments - both in maryland.

So when you’re looking at teams and clubs, definitely make sure you understand which league the team will play in and that will give you a good sense of the travel distances.

[Anonymous]

There are no U12 teams that practice 4x a week. The only teams that practice 4x a week are DA teams, and it's a long way from MSI classic to DA.

3x week is the norm for travel soccer in this area, though some less serious teams may only do 2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are no U12 teams that practice 4x a week. The only teams that practice 4x a week are DA teams, and it's a long way from MSI classic to DA.

3x week is the norm for travel soccer in this area, though some less serious teams may only do 2.

Good clarification. BIG difference between 3 and 4 per week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It has been our experience that a high level MSI Classic Team (Division 1 - top 2 teams) has a better level of play than a NCSL Division 2 team (Boys) . However, the fields played on are turf and much nicer than any field we played on in MSI classic. Think High School football fields. Price is more for NCSL but not much. Furtherest we have traveled is an hour away for a games. The refs have been better in NCSL, and so far there has been less aggressive behavior on the field - it was getting out of hand in MSI and the refs never called dangerous plays on the players. Right now I think the level of play was higher in MSI Classic, but I like the schedule, fields and coaches better in NCSL.

What age group? In our experience MSI Classic play (top division) has not been much better than MSI Rec level of play with kids barely playing positions and no sense of how to pass the ball. No experience with NCSL but I can't imagine it's like that!

OP, there are a huge number of "travel" or select teams in between MSI Classic and higher level travel teams. As some PPs mentioned you could easily find a decent team that has all local games with local being up to an hour away. Also, in our area there's no way you can make a HS team playing in lower level travel. It's that competitive.

[Anonymous]

I think at the younger ages, variety is important. Regardless of the main club you go with, find indoor teams and other soccer related experiences so your DC can experience different environments.

[Anonymous]

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has been our experience that a high level MSI Classic Team (Division 1 - top 2 teams) has a better level of play than a NCSL Division 2 team (Boys) . However, the fields played on are turf and much nicer than any field we played on in MSI classic. Think High School football fields. Price is more for NCSL but not much. Furtherest we have traveled is an hour away for a games. The refs have been better in NCSL, and so far there has been less aggressive behavior on the field - it was getting out of hand in MSI and the refs never called dangerous plays on the players. Right now I think the level of play was higher in MSI Classic, but I like the schedule, fields and coaches better in NCSL.

What age group? In our experience MSI Classic play (top division) has not been much better than MSI Rec level of play with kids barely playing positions and no sense of how to pass the ball. No experience with NCSL but I can't imagine it's like that!

OP, there are a huge number of "travel" or select teams in between MSI Classic and higher level travel teams. As some PPs mentioned you could easily find a decent team that has all local games with local being up to an hour away. Also, in our area there's no way you can make a HS team playing in lower level travel. It's that competitive.

And the harsh reality of lower-level travel by the time you reach U14 is that a lot of rec players are actually better.

A lot? No. There might be a few players on an average rec team that are better than some players on lower level travel teams, but its still a tick up in the level and speed of play.